Silverstone Raven RVZ02 Review: The best Mini-ITX case for gaming rigs

[Steve]

With some 16 months having passed since our first look at the RVZ01, Silverstone has returned with another compact gaming chassis. Predictably named the RVZ02, this new model is 15% smaller than the original while still promising to support graphics cards up to 13" long.

Silverstone believes that the Raven RVZ02 is one of the easiest compact Mini-ITX cases to build a gaming system in and notes that installation is considerably easier than it was with the RVZ01, so this will be interesting to look at in our installation section of the review.

To determine just how easy the RVZ02 is to work with, we'll install multiple hardware configurations ranging from mid-range gear all the way up to the extreme stuff. Let's move on to check out the RVZ02 in greater detail.

Read the complete review.

 

[madboyv1]

Part of me would have wanted them to have all the components pointing in the same direction and have an almost fully windowed side panel to show (almost) everything off, but at the same time I'd be one of the people to purchase the windowless version for a cleaner look anyways so it doesn't bother me too much. Also, I think pulling in air from both sides of the case instead of just one helps more uniformly fill the case with air. This is great if you keep the case standing upright, but if you turn it to its side you're going to starve the downward facing side without case feet (a set of stick on rubber feet would fix this easily).

All in all, I like what they did. They simplified... pretty much everything from the previous iteration the RZ01 without too many compromises, while reducing the price. Some will be bummed from not being able to liquid cool their CPU out of the box, or in the case of some amazing mods the whole system, but when you've got a case this small something had to go.

Another fantastic Review Steve. Assuming I retire my Bitfenix Prodigy Case when I build my new system later this year, (the side panel USB are kinda wonky on the PCB board itself) I may very well put my old gaming PC in this.

 

[USAvenger]

Thanks for the review. I'm looking forward to the Silverstone ML08 with the carrying handle.

 

[Fabio Turati]

I have a RVZ01 and, while I am very happy with it, I have to admit that working in it is not easy - granted, it was my first build, and the problems I faced were mostly due to my inexperience and I would have also had them with a larger case, but now that my PC is finished I don't want to open it and change anything - any damn thing. I think it's the RVZ01's only drawback: the difficulty to change something.

As it looks, this problem has been solved with this new RVZ02. Which makes me think it is the ultimate case for a mini gaming PC, period. Congratulations to Silverstone!

 

[EEatGDL]

Wow, that looks pretty neat. I would love to do a build with that. Probably my brother would love that; I can't because I'm using 3 PCIe slots and I need a full ATX case; maybe if I get into LAN parties or use something that powerful with a TV.

 

[Capaill]

When I see open air vents like that on a case I think: dust and noise. Dust can be reduced by having filters or even good pressure from a few strong fans but it's not possible in this case. Noise could be reduced by allowing water cooling, also not possible. A nice case but not for me. I'll stick with my Temjin for a while longer before I take the jump to the smaller sizes.

 

[Nickgofly]

Do you guys think there is a better cooling soltionfor this case than the AR06? I heard it's annoying because you have to screw it in from the back of the board. I was thinking the Samuel 17 and scythe slip stream fan. Also, is there any where to get this case that has free or reasonable shipping costs? The one I found has $40 shippibg

 

[Peter Farkas]

I may change my Aerocool DS Cube to this little sunshine ;-)

 

[Cystle]

Hi Steven, I noticed you used 2.5" HDDs in your build, did you notice any damage(dents/depressions) to the HDD's metal top when slotted into the tight holding bracket?

 

[shojikitsune]

By the power of Thread Necromancy, I bid you rise!

I know this case seems dated now, but so are most of my computers. However, it served a vital function when I had to downsize my living arrangements without giving up too much power.

I shoehorned in a Ryzen 7 3700X on a Gigabyte AB350N-Gaming WiFi motherboard, a 16gb DDR 4 3200 kit from oloY, WD 500gb SSD and 2tb HD in the 2.5 brackets, a Panasonic 12.5mm slot-feed blu-ray drive, a Focus Ion 650W SFX-L PSU and the huge XFX Thicc 3 Pro RX 5600 XT. I am using the black version with the filters.

To answer a question by Nickgofly, I used the practically identical to the argon KR-01 Krypton, effectively the same cooler with a black/silver fan. However, during live chats, the Krypton's 80mm fan would get really loud, loud enough to disrupt chats. I replaced it with the Scythe Shuriken 2 with it's bigger heat sink and 92mm slim fan. The Shuriken 2.0 height of 58mm brings the fan right up to the side vent while still letting me close the case. it would even be possible to use the Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Revision B with its 120mm fan IF you use low profile memory or forgo RAM heat spreaders. I had already spent a little more than planned at this time.

Cystle, I rearranged my drives a couple of times and saw no damage to the housings on either.